Means for coupling loads to lifting means



Aug. 29, 1967 G. N. BOWMAN-SHAW 3,338fi36 MEANS FOR COUPLING LOADS TOLIFTING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1966 Inventor wm -5Ymw By WAHor Filed May 24. 1966 N. BOWMAN-SHAW MEANS FOR COUPLING LOADS TOLIFTING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor G ory: w/d Bamnrur- 4w 29, 1967G. N. BOWMAN-SHAW 3,333,435

MEANS FOR COUPLING LOADS TO LIFTING MEANS Filed May 24, 1966 I5Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor United States Patent f 3,338,436 MEANS FORCOUPLING LOADS TO LIFTING MEANS George Neville Bowman-Shaw, ToddingtonPark, Toddington, England Filed May 24, 1966, Ser. No. 552,620 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, Mar. 22, 1963, 11,439/ 63 8 Claims.(Cl. 214-75) This application is a continuation-in-part of applicantscopending application S.N. 352,852, filed Mar. 18, 1964, now abandoned.

This invention relates to means for coupling loads to lifting means.While the invention is primarily intended for use with side loading forklift trucks and is hereinafter described in relation to such trucks, itis to be understood that it could equally well be adapted for use withfront loading fork lift trucks or indeed other forms of lifting means.According to the present invention means for coupling a load to liftingmean-s comprises one member adapted to be secured to the load andarranged for interengagement with another member adapted to be securedto the lifting means, one member comprising a channel section sleevehaving inwardly directed horizontal flanges and the other membercomprising a beam having outwardly directed horizontal flanges, thearrangement being such that in use the sleeve and beam may be sliddenlongitudinally together to bring the flanges of the sleeve and beam intoengagement.

Preferably the channel section sleeve is secured to the load and thebeam comprises the load lifting means of a fork lift industrial truck.In this case two sleeves are normally provided for inter-engagement withtwo beams comprising the works of the industrial truck.

It is also preferred that the sleeves should be secured to the uppersurface of the load to be lifted. The sleeves may, in fact, either besecured permanently to the upper surface of the load when the loadcomprises, for example, a container which is constantly to be lifted oralternatively may be adapted to be secured to the load by being formedas part of a jig or pallet in or on which the load is to be placed.

The beams are most conveniently formed of I section so that the uppersurface of the I can be used in a conventional manner for insertionunder loads, whereas the bottom surface of the I provides flanges forengagement under the flanges of the sleeves.

Alternatively, rather than provide a fork lift truck with special forkmembers, standard forks may be adapted by providing a sleeve to beslidden longitudinally on to the forks, the said sleeve having adepending I section being secured to its lower surface.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood someembodiments in accordance therewith will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view from the rear end of a side-loading forklift truck alongside a railway wagon showing the movement of a load inthe form of a bulk liquid tank from one vehicle to the other;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view from the left of FIGURE 1 of the centralportion of the side-loader truck chassis showing details of the loadmoving means;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed plan view of part of FIG- URE 2, and

FIGURE 4 is a cross section of a different flanged lifting device.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3 these show means for coupling a load tolifting means in which the lifting means is mounted on a side-loaderfork lift truck 1 and 3,338,436 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 the load is abulk tank 2 for use on a railway truck 3 and liftable therefrom forexample on to a road transport vehicle or, for transporting on theside-loader truck 1.

The tank 2 has secured thereto a flanged member 4 in the form of achannel section 5, with a central opening 5 in the top, mounted on abracket 6. The bracket 6 is shown as fixed permanently to the tank, butit may be secured to means such as a strap which passes round the tankand can be removed and applied to another tank or like load.

The truck 1 is a side-loader having a chassis formed of two bodysections 6a and 6b interconnected by a rigid back structure 60, the bodysection 6b having the drivers cab 6d mounted thereon and prime movermounted in 6a or 617 in the conventional manner. The gap 8a in thechassis has horizontal tracks 8 in which a mast 7 is supported onrollers 7a to enable the mast to move from the position in FIGURE 1 tothe left hand side of the chassis in FIGURE 1 thereby moving the loadcarrying means to be described outside the chassis to lift the tank 2and move it off the truck 3 to a point within the width of the chassisas in FIGURE 1. The mast 7 is movable convention-ally transversely ofthe truck in the guides 8 indicated diagrammatically in the drawings.The mast 7 supports a carriage 21 which is moved up and down within thesliding part 22 of the mast by power operated means shown as hydrauliccylinders 22a; also the carriage 21 can move up and down in the slidingmast part 22 under the action of a power operated chain 24: thisconstruction is conventional and the carriage 21 normally has the forksof a fork lift arrangement pivoted thereto at 25. In the presentinvention the forks have been removed and two beams 9 to be describedare each pivoted at 25 at their inner ends to the carriage 2 1, thebeams each having a downwardly extending bracket 26 rigid therewith; thecarriage 21 has a conventional hydraulic cylinder 27 for each beamactuating a bell-crank lever 28 pivoted thereto, the lever 28 carrying aroller 29 riding against the bracket 26. Thus on operation of thecylinder 27 the roller 29 moves the lower end of the bracket outwardlytilting the beam in the vertical plane about the pivot 25.

It will thus be seen that by means of the aforesaid construction of thetruck and its mast the beams 9 can be raised and lowered on the mast andcan also be tilted in the vertical plane with respect to the mast, thusproviding two movements by which the position of the load can beadjusted in the vertical plane. The brackets 26 are shown with a guardmember in the form of a rubber or like pad 11 to cushion the tank shouldit swing as it is moved by the aforesaid apparatus.

The two beams 9 extend outwardly from the mast to a distance, shown inFIGURE 1 as almost the full width of the truck but it could extendfurther than the truck if desired. The outward ends of the beams 9 arecrossbraced by girders or like members 30 rigidly secured at their endsto the beam and at each end have spaced projecting lugs 31; thus thebeams 9 and the girders 30 form a rigid structure and the girders 30 arespaced apart so as to accommodate between them, supported on the beams9, a load carrying beam shown in the drawings as a pair of beams 14which at their ends are rigidly secured to the load carrying members 13carrying at their lower ends flanges 12 which inter-engage with boxes 5secured to the tank 2. Two boxes 5 in fact are shown in the drawingsspaced apart along the tank equi-distance from the vertical planecontaining the centre of gravity of the tank. Additional boxes 5 may beprovided if necessary. On each girder 30 the lugs 31 at each end providethe mounting means for supporting the beams 14. At the left hand end ofthe top beam 30 in FIGURE 3 a rigid link 15a is secured between the lug31, the top 3 end of this link being connected to the beam 14 by a balljoint. At the left hand end of the bottom girder 30 in FIGURE 3 there isa link 15b seen also in FIGURE 2 which is connected at its lower end tothe girder 30 by a ball joint 16 and at its upper end to the girder 14by a ball joint 16a. At the right hand end of each of the beams 14 ispivoted a hydraulic cylinder 18 and extending from each is a piston rod19 connected by a ball joint at 34 to a cross bar 35 extending betweenand connected to the right hand ends of the girders 30 (FIG. 2).

From the aforesaid description of the mounting of the members 14 on thebeams 9 it can be seen that the cylinders 18 can both be actuated in thesame way so that the beam 14 will pivot about the upper end of the links15a and 15b thereby tilting the load in the vertical plane runningparallel to the fore and aft axes of the vehicle. If, however, only oneof the hydraulic cylinders 18 is actuated the link 15b will permit, inaddition to the aforesaid fore and aft tilting of the load, a movementof the load about the upper pivot of the fixed link 15a thereby givingan additional slewing movement to the load. Fixed to at least one of thebeams 9 is a hydraulic cylinder 20 the piston rod of which is pivoted at36 to brackets 37 fast on the beam 14; if the cylinder is actuated thiswill cause the beam 14 to tilt about the ball joint at the bottom of thelever 15b and the pivot 36 at the bottom right hand corner of the girder30 in FIGURE 3 thereby tilting the load. in the vertical planetransversely of the vehicle.

By these additional slewing and tilting movements of the load inaddition to those described with reference to the tilting about themast, it can be seen that the load can be adjusted in all directionsthereby facilitating its accurate placing on the truck 3 and enablingthe flanges 12 to be engaged very accurately in the boxes on the tank 2when the latter is on the truck 3 or any other support.

All the aforesaid hydraulic cylinders are provided with hydraulic fluidfrom flexible fluid ducts (not shown) from a pressure tank on thevehicle through a valve located preferably in a valve bank (not shown)in the drivers cab. By this means the driver cannot only control hisvehicle with regard to its position with respect to the truck 3 but canalso with accuracy introduce his load lifting means, i.e. the flange 12,into the boxes 5 of the tank to be lifted from a truck 3 without causingany damage to the tank. Each of the aforesaid tilting and slewingmovements can be through an angular distance of at least 4 either sideof the central position.

The load can be adjusted by tilting or slewing to dispose the members 13at the correct angle to the axes through the boxes 5. Thus a heavy loadcan be lifted onto and off a truck 2 or other support and may be Theconstruction in FIGURE 4 shows a normal fork supported by the truck 1.Once the members 13 are in alignment with the boxes 5 the mast 7 ismoved out of the truck 1 along guides 8 to move them into the boxes. 21on which is a sleeve 22 carrying the I-beam 23 the lower flange of whichengages the box 5 on the load. The I-bearn or its equivalent in FIGURESl-3 may be on the load and then the box 5 is on the member 13.

The advantage of the said construction is that the load a bearing partof the lifting mechanism constitutes only part of the height of the forkbeam 9 or member 13 and supports the load from above. This means thestrains in the load can be distributed along the length of the load inthe direction of the arrows 23 in FIGURE 2 instead of being concentratedon the fork engaging portions under the load. The bottom of the load orthe supports for it can thus be shorter in height than in conventionalunder-load fork receiving portions.

I claim:

1. A load transfer vehicle for moving bulk loads e.g. bulk loadcontainers between railway wagons and other wagons, said vehiclecomprising a wheeled chassis, a load lifting and moving apparatussupported on the chassis having a mast mova ble with respect to thechassis, a substantially horizontal frame supported on said mast andpower operated means for raising and lowering said frame with respect tosaid mast, a beam universally supported by said frame, lifting tacklecomprising a first co-operating member forming part of said beam, and a.second co-opcrating member having means for rigidly securing it to theupper portion of a bulk load to be moved, one of said co-operatingmembers having a channel section sleeve with inwardly directedhorizontal flanges and the other of said co-operating members havingoutwardly directed horizontal flanges, power operated means mountedbetween said frame and said beam operable to tilt and slew saidcooperating members and said load supported therefrom in three mutuallyperpendicular directions with respect to said chassis, said firstcooperating member of said lifting tackle, by operation of said beam,can be slidden longitudinally with respect to the other member whensecured to the load so that the lifting and moving apparatus can beoperated to lift the load from above the load at one location, e.g. on arailway wagon, and moved to another location such as another vehicleplatform.

2. A load transfer vehicle according to claim 1 characterised in thatsaid sleeve is securely mountable on said load and the otherco-operating member is part of said load lifting tackle movablysupported on said frame, said sleeve having a slot in its upper wallalong which said flanged co-operating member passes as the latter movesinto and along said sleeve.

3. A load transfer vehicle according to claim 1 characterised in thatthe other of said coopearting members is of I-section the lower flangesof which constitute said first co-operating member.

4. A side loader load transfer vehicle for moving bulk loads, comprisinga wheeled chassis,

a vertical mast mounted on said chassis for movement with respect tosaid chassis transversely thereof,

a substantially horizontal frame slidably mounted on said mast andprojecting transversely of the vehicle therefrom,

means for vertically moving said frame on said mast,

a beam assembly extending transversely of and above the free end of saidframe,

a first link anchored to said frame and projecting upwardly therefrom, aball joint connecting the upper end of said first link to said beamassembly,

a second link aligned longitudinally of said vehicle with respect tosaid first link but spaced therefrom transversely of said vehicle, balljoints at the opposite ends of said second link and joining same to saidframe and said beam assembly respectively,

a pair of extensible links aligned longitudinally of the vehicle buttransversely spaced with respect to each other and in longitudinallyspaced relation to said first link,

and means selectively for individually and collectively extending saidextensible links.

5. The Vehicle as defined in claim 4 including an extensible link actingbetween said frame and said beam assembly in a direction transverse ofsaid vehicle but longitudinally spaced with respect to said first link.

6. A side loader load transfer vehicle for moving bulk loads, comprisinga wheeled chassis,

a vertical mast mounted on said chassis for movement transverselythereof,

a substantially horizontal frame mounted on said mast for verticalmovement thereon and projecting therefrom transversely of said chassis,

a load-engageable beam assembly extending longitudinally of said chassisfor movement vertically and transversely with said frame, said beamassembly ing means comprises a ball joint joining said beam as- 10sembly to said frame, a fixed length link, and ball joints pivotallyconnecting the opposite ends of said fixed length link to said frame andsaid beam assembly respectively.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7 wherein said power means comprises apair of extensible links joining said beam assembly and said frame.

5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,271,776 2/ 1942 Minty 294-672,720,993 10/ 1955 Lull 2l4670 3,176,866 4/1965 Meister 2l4620 GERALD M.FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Examiner.

1. A LOAD TRANSFER VEHICLE FOR MOVING BULK LOADS E.G. BULK LOADCONTAINERS BETWEEN RAILWAY WAGONS AND OTHER WAGONS, SAID VEHICLECOMPRISING A WHEELED CHASSIS, A LOAD LIFTING AND MOVING APPARATUSSUPPORTED ON THE CHASSIS HAVING A MAST MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO THECHASSIS, A SUB STANTIALLY HORIZONTAL FRAME SUPPORTED ON SAID MAST ANDPOWER OPERATED MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING SAID FRAME WITH RESPECT TOSAID MAST, A BEAM UNIVERSALLY SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME, LIFTING TACKLECOMPRISING A FIRST CO-OPERATING MEMBER FORMING PART OF SAID BEAM, AND ASECOND CO-OPERATING MEMBER HAVING MEANS FOR RIGIDLY SECURING IT TO THEUPPER PORTION OF A BULK LOAD TO BE MOVED, ONE OF SAID CO-OPERATINGMEMBERS HAVING A CHANNEL SECTION SLEEVE WITH INWARDLY DIRECTEDHORIZONTAL FLANGES AND THE OTHER OF SAID CO-OPERATING MEMBERS HAVINGOUTWARDLY DIRECTED HORIZONTAL FLANGES, POWER OPERATED MEANS MOUNTEDBETWEEN SAID FRAME AND SAID BEAM OPERABLE TO TILT AND SLEW SAIDCOOPERATING MEMBERS AND SAID LOAD SUPPORTED THERE-